


oh shit, you’re dead?

by claruh (orphan_account)



Series: apocalypse fics [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Apocalypse, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:01:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24280024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/claruh
Relationships: Eridan Ampora/Sollux Captor (implied), Jade Harley/Aradia Megido, John Egbert/Karkat Vantas
Series: apocalypse fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1752637
Kudos: 5





	oh shit, you’re dead?

Jade hummed to herself as she worked with a brain from a prowler she had found earlier. She took it apart slowly, examining each lobe for mutations or anything strange. Finding small abnormalities in several different regions she sighed. 

She could hear John and Karkat in the room outside, bickering over something. She smiled before cleaning up and heading out of the examination room.

“Hi Jade!” John smiled at her as he swatted Karkat’s hand away from his food. “Cut it out fucker!” He pushed Karkat’s face away with one hand, attempting to eat with the other. 

Jade laughed, “I’m going out.”

“Be careful, okay?” John knew she could handle whatever she encountered, but he still worried about her safety. 

Jade nodded, grabbing her pistol from under the desk, “Lock the door behind me, alright?” 

“Alright.” John saluted her as she walked out, causing them both to laugh. 

Jade stepped into the small enclosed space that she used to find unlucky prowlers who had ambled into it. John had found Karkat in there as well, but he wasn’t sick. He couldn’t get sick actually. She shook her head, she needed to be focused on the task ahead. 

~

She carefully went into the street, looking around carefully. With her pistol she’d be able to handle anything really, but she still took precautions. 

She heard people talking loudly maybe two streets over. Not wanting to have to shoot any actually healthy people today, Jade headed in the opposite direction of the voices. 

As she walked away, the voices seemed to follow her. It sounded like two guys arguing loudly over- something. She kept hearing the name Aradia, but she had no idea who they were. 

Jade stopped for a moment, ducking into an alleyway to wait till the group passed her. They stopped near her. The yelling was between a lanky guy with a long scarf and a short guy with silly glasses and a bright yellow jacket. They were also accompanied by a girl with messy black hair who looked extremely tired of the bickering. 

“Fucker! I told you- theres people living this way.”

“Well then why don’t we go there? They’d help you-“

“They’d fucking shoot Aradia like you tried to do! That’s why!” 

“Sol, you’re bleeding out as we speak.”

“I’m pretty aware of that moron.”

She heard the girl, who she assumed to be Aradia, attempt to say something, but she couldn’t make it out. Jade thought to herself before stepping out into the street. The scarf one immediately pointed his gun at her, “Who the fuck are you?”

“I’d ask you the same thing.” She had her pistol at her side, attempting to show she wasn’t trying to be hostile. “Look, I can help you not bleed out.”

“You were listening to us?” The scarf guy waved his gun around, not really being the most threatening. His country accent dominated his syllables, making it hard to understand certain words. 

“Yeah for like a minute before I gathered what the fuck you were yelling about. You’re alerting everyone in a mile radius you’re here.” 

Aradia smiled at her before mumbling something intelligible. 

“Ignore him, look if you can help us, I’ll take it. Just, don’t shoot her.” Jade noticed he had a lisp.

“Why would I?”

“Oh.”

“What?”

“Well you see-“ Silly glasses guy, Sol, slapped his hand over the taller ones mouth. 

“No worries. Just, I’d prefer not to die, okay?”

“Follow me.” She held her pistol readied as she lead the way. She’d glance behind her every so often to make sure scarf guy wasn’t attempting to shoot her with his ridiculous blue gun. 

~

They made it back, and Jade knocked on the door. John opened it and backed away once he saw the group of people she had brought with her. 

“I’m helping him not bleed out and they’ll be on their way.”

“Ookay.” John hesitantly went back to Karkat, who was staring at them. 

“Holy shit.” Karkat laughed before running up to them. The long scarf guy, smiled and hugged him tightly. “I thought- holy shit!” He was grinning widely. “I thought you had all died- I- wow. Still wearing your stupid scarf, huh Eridan?” So scarf guys name was Eridan, good to know. 

“It prevents anything from getting to my neck.”

Karkat rolled his eyes before turning to the yellow guy, or Sol, “Hi.”

“Hey KK.” They hugged and John and Jade just looked on, confused. 

“I know them. Hey Aradia.” Aradia just nodded, still looking at Jade. Jade cocked her head, and smiled at her. 

“No shit!” John laughed and draped his arms over Karkat’s shoulders. “So Eridan, Aradia, and-“

“Sollux.” His lisp was prominent in saying his name, causing Jade to giggle. “What are you laughing at?” Jade shook her head and looked at Aradia who grinned back at her. 

Jade ran into the examination room to grab her first aid kit. When she came back Sollux was sitting where Karkat had a few weeks ago when he’d stumbled in loosing blood. Sollux, at least, had something wrapped around his arm to attempt to stop the bleeding. 

Jade unwrapped it slowly, wiping off the long cut across his arm. It luckily wasn’t deep, just grazing the surface, but blood was coming out at a steady rate. 

“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?” Eridan and Sollux shared a look before Sollux nodded to him.

“Well- I tried to shoot Aradia.”

“Why the fuck would you do that?”

“Okay- I can explain, it’s just-“

“AA’s a zombie.”

“No she’s not- she looks like a human.”

“Yeah that’s the thing. She got bit, but is only partially infected.”

“Oh-“ Jade thought to herself as she finished cleaning Sollux’s arm. “I- weird question.”

“Go ahead.” 

“So me and John over there have been working on developing a cure, or some sort of thing to slow the spread, and we have a prototyped version.”

“Are you asking if you can try it on her?”

“Yes.” 

Sollux got up suddenly, almost knocking over Eridan in the process, “No- you can’t. She’s not some fucking guinea pig!” 

“I’m not saying that! Jesus- If she can interact with you then I think she should have a voice over yours!” 

Aradia looked up from where she was sitting, and nodded. She walked up to Sollux and grabbed his hands, nodding more. She mumbled something that he somehow understood. 

“She says do it.”

“I need to finish your arm first-“ 

“Oh- yeah.” He sat back down again, and Jade wrapped bandages around his arm tightly. “When can you try the vaccine?”

She looked up at him, “Now, if that’s okay with you?” She turned to Aradia who smiled at her. 

John and Karkat came back into the room, with John completely slouched against Karkat who was almost falling over forwards. Karkat pushed him off and began talking to Eridan about something. 

Jade finished wrapping Sollux’s arm and extended a hand to Aradia, who took it. “Sollux?”

“Yea?”

“Do you want to come in, or-“

“No- Sorry AA.” She shrugged and walked with Jade into the examination room and began to look around. 

“You like this kind of stuff?” Aradia nodded enthusiastically. “Well whenever you can talk again, I’d love to hear about what you know.” 

Jade had her lay down on a table used to examine corpses, but it was now covered with a blanket. She grabbed the solution off the counter and inserted it into a syringe. 

“I’m going to stick this into your upper leg, okay?” She pulled up Aradia’s flowy skirt, and without waiting for any sort of response jabbed the needle into her leg. Jade backed away, watching carefully to see what would happen. “Are you okay with staying in here while I go tell everyone?” Aradia nodded, her fingers tracing the area Jade had poked her. 

Jade left, and walked back out into the main room. The boys were sitting in a circle on the ground, well more of a triangle as Karkat has found his way into John’s lap. She rolled her eyes before speaking, “Uh- I gave her the shot.”

Sollux immediately stood up, “Is she okay?”

“Yes, but I’m waiting to see what happens next.” He walked over to the door of the room Aradia was in. “Don’t be surprised if she’s passed out. The virus takes place in the brain which is very hard to recover from.” 

Jade joined him by the door and looked in, Aradia’s eyes were closed and she lay limp on the table. Her chest still rose and fell though, signaling she was still alive. 

“You really care about her don’t you?”

“Yeah. She’s like- the closest friend I have. Besides KK and the country asshole.” Jade smiled and patted his arm. “Thank you.”

“Of course!” He hugged her tightly, and she laughed. “You’re all a weird bunch, huh?”

“I guess.” He pushed his glasses to the top of his head and Jade saw how cloudy one of his eyes was He saw her staring at them, “Oh- yeah. I’m pretty much blind here.” He gestured to the eye he kept hidden behind the red side of his glasses. “The other one will go sooner or later.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Nah, don’t apologize. It’s some genetic thing, I’m used to it by now.” He turned back to the window into the room. 

“Do you want to go in?” He nodded and Jade opened the door. She pulled out stools for both of them to sit. He grasped Aradia’s hand tightly, and Jade could tell he was trying not to cry. “How did she get bitten?” She said it quietly, and Sollux looked at her sadly. 

“It’s my fault really. I should have been watching her, and-“

“Don’t blame yourself.”

“You don’t know the story. No one does.” He wiped his eyes. “Fucking shit.” 

“It’s okay- she’s going to be okay.” She placed her hand onto Sollux’s arm, smiling sympathetically. 

“I know she is- but she would have been okay this whole time if it wasn’t for me.” He stood up and leaned over her. “But she’ll be okay.”

“She’ll be okay.” She echoed. 

Sollux looked back at her and hugged her again, “Thank you.” He was choked up, with tears starting to fall down his face. “I’m- fuck. Sorry you have to see me like this.” He laughed while rubbing his eyes. 

~

They stayed in the room for a while before John eventually dragged them both out to eat. Sollux leaned into Eridan, who spoke soft reassurances to him. John and Karkat both attempted to steal food from one another causing Jade to smack John’s arm and Eridan to return the favor to Karkat. 

She kept glancing at Sollux, she was worried about him. Aradia meant the world to him, and if this didn’t work and Jade let both of them down- She didn’t know what she’d do. 

~

Eventually they needed to sleep, and Jade offered her bed to Sollux and Eridan. She’d rather stay with Aradia, to see what would happen. Sollux protested, but she shut him down. 

She sat on the floor messing around pouring water into different beakers when she heard heavy breathing. Aradia’s eyes were opened wide, they were both cloudy, resembling Sollux’s. 

She seemed to not be able to see Jade, but she could speak, “Jade?” Jade grabbed her hand, and she struggled to sit up. “Why- I can’t see.” 

Jade felt her eyes watering. She messed up. She had helped her yes, but had ended up inhibiting her further by making her fucking blind!

“I- I don’t know what went wrong- everything should have worked I-“ 

Aradia grabbed Jade’s face, “No- I feel good. I feel alive.” She smiled widely. “Thank you.” With Jade’s help, she got down from the table and hugged her tightly. “It’s not fully gone, I can see somewhat. It’s okay Jade.”

“It’s not! Sollux is going to-“

“He’s not going to do anything. I’m happy Jade. I’m alive.” They both were crying, but Aradia was smiling. “Thank you.” She murmured quietly into Jade’s ear which made Jade cry harder. 

“Don’t thank me I- I messed up! I screwed everything up! It’s-“ Aradia kissed her neck and Jade stopped. “Why-“

“You cured me.”

“You’re blind!”

“Jade, I’m okay with this. It’s an eye for an eye. Literally I guess.” Jade smiled and Aradia wiped the tears off her face. “You must be exhausted.”

“Yeah.” Aradia sat down against the counter and let Jade sit in between her legs, leaning into her chest. “You’re really okay with it?”

“Yes. I’ll be okay Jade.” She placed her arms around Jade’s waist, holding her steady. 

“Okay- goodnight.”

“Night.” Jade kissed her jawline and Aradia smiled before closing her eyes. 

-

Jade woke up still in Aradia’s arms, pretty uncomfortable from sleeping on the tile floor. Aradia’s eyes were closed and was breathing deeply. Jade attempted to get up without waking her, but Aradia slowly opened her eyes.  
They were still cloudy. It wasn’t a dream. 

“Good morning.” 

They both rose to their feet before heading out into the main room. Sollux was sitting with Karkat talking quietly, which was surprising on Karkat’s behalf. 

Sollux looked up and saw the girls before running over. He placed his hands on Aradia’s face before dropping them. His expression went blank. 

“What the fuck did you do?” He turned to Jade, glaring over his glasses. He was oddly intimidating for someone multiple inches shorter than Jade. 

“I-“

“Sollux.” Aradia grabbed his arm and he turned back to her. He started crying and hugged her tightly. “I’m okay.” He sobbed into her chest and Jade slowly stepped away. 

Karkat came up behind her and grabbed her arm, smiling, “You did it?” He whispered to her, not wanting to disturb Sollux and Aradia. 

“With the cost of her vision.” 

“Oh..” He looked down at his feet. “I guess it’s something they can bond over now.” She rolled her eyes, smiling. They both walked back into the bedroom, Eridan was sitting up fiddling with a loose thread on his scarf. John was still laying down, attempting to sleep. 

“What’s going on?”

“Sollux is crying.” Karkat said bluntly. 

“What?” He looked at Jade in confusion. 

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” She looked over at John who slowly was waking up. Karkat walked over to him and kissed him, which made him sit up far faster. “I’m- Karkat?”

“Huh?”

“Can you go out and check on them? I don’t-“

“Alright.” He walked out into the main room and quickly came back. “They said they’re done with their sob fest.”

“I don’t think they said it like that.” John got up and wrapped his arms around Karkat’s hips. Karkat squirmed before leaning into John and kissing his neck.

“Gross.” Eridan and Jade said in unison which made them all laugh. 

Jade walked out first and Sollux came up to her, “I’m sorry about before, but thank you.” He was smiling widely, his eyes still full of tears. Jade was hoping they were happy ones this time. 

She approached Aradia who hugged her tightly, “He didn’t say anything bad did he?”

“He said thank you.”

“Good.” Jade brushed some of Aradia’s hair out of her face, and Aradia smiled. 

Jade turned around to see the four boys talking to each other in what seemed like a heated debate. 

“Sollux recovered fast.” Aradia laughed at her own comment and took Jade’s hand to walk over to them. 

~

“KK, we can’t stay here. We- I don’t want to burden you all. 

“Look! All I’m saying is, we could find another bed or- something! I- I don’t want to loose you again.”

“Oh- oh no. Kar, we’ll be okay.”

“But I won’t know that! What if you go out and just fucking die? What if I never get to see you again?” Karkat was yelling at this point, John rubbing his thumb in circles on his hand to attempt to calm him down. He looked down at his feet, “I can’t loose you guys again.” 

Sollux and Eridan exchanged a look before turning to John and Jade.

“Look, we’re able to go out for supplies and stuff so we won’t just live here without doing anything.” Jade nodded, but John looked hesitant despite all the things Karkat had said. “I don’t want to hurt you again KK.”

Karkat looked up and nodded, “Please.” He looked at John and Jade. They looked at each other before nodding. 

“You need to get a bed though. I’m not sleeping on the floor again.” 

Sollux smiled, “Deal. While we’re out, we’ll look for food and shit.”

Jade nodded, “Don’t shoot any more innocent people!” Eridan rolled his eyes before heading out the door. John locked it behind them as always. 

“Thank you.” Karkat mumbled. “I- Just thank you for letting them stay.”

“Kar, of course.” John squeezed his hand, and Jade nodded. 

~

Aradia was looking outside through the glass.

“Are you waiting for them?”

“I’m worried.”

“They’re fine. Eridan knows how to use that gun, and Sollux- does whatever he does.” Aradia smiled and took Jade’s hand. “They’ll be okay. I promise.”

~

It was dinner time, and the pair had still not returned. Aradia kept looking to the door, when finally there was a loud bang on it. Jade ran over and Eridan and Sollux were out of breath with bags over their shoulders. 

She quickly unlocked the door and let them in. They dropped their bags on the floor and sat down laughing. 

Sollux looked up at Aradia and grinned before handing her something, “Sol!” She laughed and hugged it tightly. It was a small frog figurine that was extremely scuffed up, but she still appreciated it. 

Eridan was unpacking his bag which contained some random foods as well as a pillow he had managed to stuff in there with a sleeping bag. He sighed as he began to organize the contents out on the floor. 

Jade walked over and scooped up the food to put up in the cabinets. They were running low despite rationing, but now they should have enough to last 6 people a good while. 

Sollux placed a few more cans next to her before dumping out the rest of his bag. He had a sleeping bag as well, and a large jacket that Jade assumed would be used as a pillow. 

“Where the fuck did you find all this stuff?” Karkat was kneeled next to Eridan, holding the pillow he’d found. 

“Old Academy that hadn’t been fully gone through.” Sollux shrugged before heading off into the bedroom with his stuff. Karkat shook his head but smiled. 

Jade sat back down next to Aradia, who handed her the frog figurine, “You like frogs?”

“They’re my favorite animal.” She smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know how Sol found this.”

“Well I’m glad you can see it.”

“Barely. Everything is foggy- I guess that’s how I’d say it. Like I can make out some of you, but just everything seems like it was put on high grain with low saturation.” Jade was glad she was so casual about this whole situation. 

“Do you wanna go to sleep soon?” Aradia nodded and grabbed her hand to go into the bedroom. Eridan and Sollux were setting up their sleeping bags in the middle of the room along with a bunch of other random stuff they’d found and taken. 

The girls sat down on the bed and Aradia pulled Jade to her chest. Jade leaned her head back on Aradia’s shoulder and looked up at the ceiling. 

Eridan and Sollux eventually left to join Karkat and John back in the main room. Aradia kissed Jade’s cheek sleepily. 

“Goodnight Dia.”

“Night.”

They got under the covers and both eventually drifted off to sleep. It had been a long two days, but they had managed.


End file.
